September is beginning to shake students out of that summer mindset. It also has some parents shaking their heads.
With as many as 40 children in new all-day kindergarten classrooms, some are wondering if it鈥檚 too much for teachers to handle.
鈥淭wenty-two,鈥� one parent, whose ideal class size is below what the average is now, . 鈥淣ot more than that, because they are small kids and they need small attention."
But some educators don鈥檛 think 30 or more students is too many to teach effectively.
鈥淚 haven't seen a class of 40, but certainly 30 is not hard to manage, 34 isn't hard to manage,鈥� said Catherine Ure, principal of the Fraser Mustard Early Learning Academy. 鈥淲e had classes get up as high as 34 last year.鈥�
Toronto District School Board officials agree. Ryan Bird, a spokesperson for the board, called class sizes 鈥渃ompletely manageable,鈥� adding that teachers weren鈥檛 alone in taking care of the classroom.
鈥淵ou have two educators in the class,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have a teacher and an early childhood educator.鈥�
It鈥檚 unlikely parents will see fewer kids per class 鈥� at least in Ontario. The province has spent $1.5 billion on new classrooms, and running all-day kindergarten costs millions more to operate annually.
Some provinces, like Alberta and Manitoba, have decided to stick with half-day kindergarten, while others are providing the program for senior kindergarten students only.
In British Columbia, hard caps are placed on kindergarten class size. The number of students per room is a central focus in the labour dispute that has kept classroom doors locked so far this year.
鈥淚t is 22 now,鈥� said Dan Graves, president of the Vancouver Elementary Teachers Association. 鈥淲e can do better, and I think we owe kids better and we need to do better.鈥�
With a
